Having just read Rev. Thomas J. Euteneuers's new book, Exorcism and the Church Militant, one of the first things I asked him was whether he was afraid of demons. I shivered more than once reading through its short chapters, arranged as basic questions about the devil, demons, possession, and the rite of exorcism.

"Not at all," Father answered with a smile. "God has given me the grace to remain unafraid."

When I expressed my surprise, he explained, "Demons are basically handcuffed, and they know it."

Father Euteneuer does not speak as a theorist. Since 2003 he's had extensive experience ministering to those possessed by demons. His introduction to the demonic world happened when a family asked him for help for one of their members, and he eventually asked for permission to perform the rite of exorcism. He has been doing them ever since.

Exorcism and the Church Militant is intended, in part, as a warning to parents who allow their children to be desensitized to "the dark world" by books and films like the Harry Potter series and the vampire books of Stephanie Meyer. Father Euteneuer told me possession is almost always a result of someone getting involved in some sort of occult practices, such as witchcraft, Wicca, tarot cards, and Ouiji boards.

"Harry Potter and these Twilight vampires glamorize the power of evil," Father Eutenener explained, "and this has lead to many, many cases of possession among young people." It may begin with a child or teenager simply "playing around" with the occult, but that seemingly harmless act is "opening a window" to possession.

Father Euteneuer emphasized this point, "Demons do not discriminate between intentions -- no matter how innocent -- and children lose the clear distinction between good and evil."

What makes the occult so dangerous is the fact that it is based upon something real -- the preternatural world of fallen angels, headed by Lucifer himself. Below him are the "choirs" of devils and demons who are a reverse mirror, in their fallen state, of the hierarchy of angels.

Yet, as Father Euteneuer made clear, this entire dark spiritual world "cannot operate without permission from human beings." He pointed out that the widely-seen film, The Exorcism of Emily Rose, based upon the actual case of Anneliese Michel, makes it seem like a possession can occur against a person's will.

Demons play by the rules, as it were. They can only enter a person when invited, and they will leave when subjected through the rite of exorcism to the authority of the Church. "All demons understand is authority," according to Father Euteneuer. He told me of a time he was with someone who was possessed -- not intending to do an exorcism because permission had not yet been given -- and the demon spoke to him saying, "The Church is not here."

Father Euteneuer reminded me that as fallen angels, demons are smarter than any human being. "The darkest demon is smarter than I am," he said. An exorcist must remain aware of the demon's ability to know everything about the person they are possessing, including family members, and those who may enter the room to cast them out.

One demon attempted to negotiate with Father Euteneuer, offering to help him with his Latin if he would let him stay put. That story prompted me to ask if demons had a sense of humor. "No," Euteneuer replied. "The demon was only trying to resist being cast out. They know what an exorcism is, what is going to happen to them."

Possession usually involves more than one demon. Father Euteneuer explained that when "one demon gets in it will help to create more invitations to other demons." The more powerful ones have biblical names, and he often runs into demons with the same name, as if they had a kind of demonic family name.

The possession of an individual person is a perverse imitation of the Incarnation. "They know they've lost the war in heaven, now they've come to earth and are doing all they can to exert their power and be an obstacle to heaven." That's why demons experience some form of pain when they are exorcised -- Father Euteneuer said demons will often complain that "It burns." They have been deprived of the satisfaction of entering a body in imitation of the Word made flesh.

By the end of my interview with Father Euteneuer, I realized my initial question about being frightened of demons had betrayed my misunderstanding of the limits of demonic power. Exorcism and the Church Militant is a book that should provide guidance to many for years to come, especially for parents who need a reminder that the occult is not innocent entertainment.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve read the series. I’m currently back to Chamber of Secrets. I’ll be teaching a Harry Potter Lit. class next semester, and I’m very excited about that! This person obviously has not read the series, as power is not glamorized but portrayed as very dangerous. Hello, the statue at the Ministry of witches and wizards sitting on a pile of humans anybody?

Also, I’d love to know what this braintrust thinks about such classics as Alice in Wonderland, Through the Looking Glass, and The Wizard of Oz.

in a book called the dark side of the occult, researchers found common traits among all those who were demon oppressed or possessed and that was the occult or drugs. they found the fastest route to become possessed was the ouija board or drugs.

dont kid yourself. harry potter is all about the occult. it may be entertaining but it glorifies it same as all these tv shows where folks attempt to make contact with the dead or have paranomal encounters.

maybe the bible is not your book but it is incredibly clear that we are to NEVER participate in any of these things and that supernatural entities (whether good or bad) are awe-inspiring created beings—not the harmless ones people like to think of. Apostle Paul himself said that he was never disrespectful when talking about them because of their power and office.

although the exorcism of emily rose was wrong in that demons cannot possess a christian, much else about it was spot on.

I’ve been doing spirit release work for about twenty years. Not everything the father says is true. For example, “inviting” them in can be accidental or without invitation. They can enter when a person is drunk..thus the term spirits for alcohol, when a person is in depression, when they use drugs, or when they are under general anesthesia.

I’ve cleaned up many messes from people using ouija boards.

The spirits can get pretty nasty at times. Their power is often the influence they gain while the host denies their physical existance.

It will be an 11th and 12th grade elective. I've wanted to teach it for a while, but I did not have the nerve to suggest it until a group of students came to me and asked me to do it. I was honored that they wanted me to propose and then teach the class. The students are a higher level group, and I intend to teach the class at a college freshman/sophomore level. Some things we will explore include religion or lack of in the series, Chekhov's gun, hero and monomyth cycle, love and sacrifice, power, mythology, etc. I would like to discuss the social issues in the series and how they compare to modern day social issues. I hope I can get it all in!

If the Bible (I capitalize the the first letter of the Good Book) says not to have involvement in books like Harry Potter, why did you then read them and see the movies? Strange. Have you also read or watched Alice in Wonderland and The Wizard of Oz?

Hey just in time to convince independents that the right isn't a bunch of wacky nutjobs obsessed with the occult and demonology that want act like Dana Carvey’s “The Church Lady” and see the hand of “Hmmmm... could it be...... SATAN?” in innocuous children's stories!

20
posted on 11/22/2010 10:51:12 AM PST
by allmendream
(Tea Party did not send the GOP to D.C. to negotiate the terms of our surrender to socialism.)

Since it is an elective, there is no prodding. The students will have had to have read the series before the class begins, and then we will discuss the literary elements within the series as a whole. The amazing thing about the series is that it has taught me to read a book for pleasure, not just for analyzing. As a literature teacher, I sometimes forget that a good book can just be a good book. With HP, I can do both. If that means that I can introduce higher order concepts to my students with HP as my segue, I'm all for it.

“Do you think watching or reading a work of fiction about characters doing something is the same as actually doing it?”

Nope. But any simpleton should realize that reading or watching something can create a desire within the person to go out and become involved in that activity. Else wise corporations wouldn’t spend billions on advertising.

The point is that there are more worthier texts for study whether its an elective or not. Based on the excerpts of HP that I’ve looked at, it isn’t remotely literary. Harold Bloom wrote good article about the books. He started reading one and lost count of the cliched turns of phrase.

Perhaps you should read the books instead of excerpts and others’ criticisms. Then you will be qualified to make a comment about the worthiness of the class. During lunch a future HP Lit student and I discussed Chekhov’s Gun and the snitch that Dumbledore left Harry in his will. 42 minutes later we had not ended the discussion. Last week she and I also had a lovely conversation about about religion and the lack of it in the series. It is interesting how Rowling doesn’t include religion, but yet Harry sacrificed his life so that others might live.

I’ve been mulling that one for a few years now. I don’t think they are anti-religion, I just think that Rowling didn’t want to deal with the intricacies of how to include religion. Plus, even more exorcists would be up her butt about it. She is really walking a fine line: Include religion and the religious think she is evil for suggesting magic and religion go together, or don’t include any religion and the religious think that she is promoting Satan. I don’t know what the answer is, but I’m looking forward to a discussion about it next semester!

Whether I am a Christian, committed or not, does not affect how I read a book about a fantastical, made up world.

Whether or not I believe that demons are real does not affect how I read a book about a fantastical, made up world.

The part you should get out of this is that HP is about a fantastical, made up world. It’s not real dude, get that through your skull. Until you can accept that these books are fantasy literature, much like Alice in Wonderland, I can’t continue this discussion. I discuss magical issues within the books as things that can’t ever happen, because THEY AREN’T REAL!

I haven't read any of the books either, and once I tried to watch one of the movies but found it very dull and boring.

However, your comment that *Harry sacrificed his life to save others* makes me think of all the unbelievers and atheists who reject God, that I have met in my life, who say to me, "We dont need God, we can be *good* people without him". And I'm sure they believe that.

However, as Jesus said, None but the Father in heaven is *good*. So whatever *goodness* these people purport to have which is not of God, is pretty worthless.

Also any business person can look at the phenomenom of the Potter books and see a machine--- personally I rather doubt Rowling is the sole author-- more likely a set of people, like Disney-- cranking out a purposeful money making empire. There's nothing wrong with making money, mind you --but it might cause some of us to wonder just what was the purpose of infusing impressionable minds with a veritable onslaught of occult books, teaching that people can be noble and good without God. Sounds atheistic and can we say socialistic, Communistic -- laying the groundwork, moving the football. Get minds while they're young.

Actually, if you read the books closely, through all the books, there is an occasional, rare, sideways reference to a traditional Church of England calender. Christmas, for instance, is not called anything but Christmas. There are Christmas carols. So the books have a lot of US retailers beat.

Over the Harry Potter years, I can't find a criticism that could not also be justly applied to the Lord of the Rings.

And Rowling never pretends that evil does not exist. She also makes Harry full of flaws, like any struggling hero, conscious of his own anger, desire for vengeance, propensity for telling lies to almost anyone in authority--

47
posted on 11/22/2010 11:24:11 AM PST
by Mamzelle
(donate to O'Donnell--even a dollar is plenty! She has paypal!)

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